Summoner 101
by born on the day of earthquakes
Summary: Akashi Seijuro is a young but very powerful summoner. His familiars are Midorima Shintaro, Aomine Daiki, Murasakibara Atsushi, Kuroko Tetsuya and Kise Ryouta. But Kuroko Tetsuya seemed weak compared to the other familiars. And other demons seemed to lurk around the summoner and his familiars. - AU. Demons.
1. Lesson 1

**Disclaimer:** _'born on the day of earthquakes'_ doesn't own Kuroko no Basuke.

**Warning:** Unbeta'd. OOC.

* * *

**Summoner 101: Lesson 1**

_Summoning a demon can only be done by selected gifted individuals. It is quite similar to performing magic. Performing magic involves creating a path to the demon world and gathering power to utilize in the human world. Demons can be summoned in a similar way: creating a path to the demon world, calling to a demon, guiding the demon back to the human world and gathering power for the demon to utilize in the human world. This is done with a couple of circles, a circle for the summoner and another for the demon._

* * *

The small red-haired boy blinked, straining his eyes against the darkness of the training room to look at the drawn circle opposite him. He stood on his own smaller circle that was connected to the other with two lines, and he really was tempted to step out of it just to see what appeared this time. He was about to move but a stern voice stopped him.

"Akashi-sama," a green-haired boy called out as he pushed his glasses up his nose. "You do know that it's dangerous to step out of your circle during summoning, don't you? You still don't know how to set up a shield."

"But I'm really curious, Shintarou..." said the child called Akashi. He smiled despite the stare given to him. "It's been a while since I've been allowed to summon someone."

"Yeah, just let him be, Midorima," a yawning wolf said in the corner. "I'll just protect Sei-sama when the new bastard decides to hurt him."

"Watch your language, Mine-chin," said a large male munching on some snacks. "Aka-chin-sama can hear you, you know..."

Akashi puffed his cheeks. "I'll just take a look!"

"Wait, Akashi-sama!"

The small boy stepped out of his circle, running toward the bigger one without hesitation. Immediately, puffs of black cloud appeared and surrounded the small boy. The black smoke formed into ropes of darkness, wrapping around the thin wrists and ankles of the red-haired boy.

A growl was heard. A silver wolf appeared, latching itself on the black ropes and biting them to free the red-haired boy. An inhuman scream sounded in the room as the ropes untangled themselves from the boy.

"Stop, Daiki!" Akashi yelled. "You're hurting him!"

"But, Seijuro-sama," the wolf said, moving his large body protectively around the small boy. He regarded the burnt marks on Akashi's arms and legs. "He's hurting you. He must be banished."

"He's just scared," Akashi said calmly. He patted the head of the wolf while he turned to the green-haired boy an d the other larger male. "Shintarou and Atsushi, you should calm down too. Let me handle this."

Akashi began to mutter under his breath. Red sparks appeared by his feet, lighting up the circle he was standing on with the said color. The ropes of darkness quivered, drawing together into a single black blob that stayed in the middle of the circle. Akashi made seals with his hands before finishing his spell with a single word.

The room darkened again. Akashi smiled as he began running towards the middle of the circle. The black blob moved as he leaned down to pick it up.

Wide blue eyes blinked before looking up at the red ones staring at it.

"My name is Akashi Seijuro," the boy said. "What's your name?"

Midorima sighed, appearing just beside Akashi while looking warily at the blob of darkness that sat on his master's hands. "You're so reckless, Akashi-sama... You shouldn't immediately give your name to demons like us."

"But I trust you guys," the small boy said. "Is that wrong?"

"I don't know if that's wrong or right," the giant male eating at the corner said. "But I really like you, Aka-chin-sama."

"Thank you, Atsushi," Akashi said with a small blush on his face. The wolf approached him and rubbed licked Akashi's face. "Haha! Daiki, that tickles!"

When Aomine rubbed his face against Akashi's shoulder, Akashi turned to Midorima expectingly. Midorima sighed again.

"Akashi-sama,..." Midorima started saying. "I..."

"Ah! So your name is Kuroko Tetsuya, huh?" Akashi suddenly exclaimed as he leaned his face towards the round darkness sitting on his palms. "I'll call you _'Tetsuya'_ then."

Midorima stood frozen just behind his master while the wolf chuckled and the large male continued munching on his snacks.

Blue eyes blinked again. Black fur grew thickly around the round object. Two long ears shot from the head while a small nose sniffed at the hand holding the small demon.

"A black rabbit?" Akashi said. "You're so cute, Tetsuya."

The small black rabbit snuggled on the small warm hands that held him. It was the first time that he had ever been so close to a human. Other stronger demons surrounded the human too, so he felt so insignificant. But the small warm hands supported him. He never regretted heeding the call from the human world despite him feeling so weak.

At that time, their human master, Akashi Seijuro, was four years old.

* * *

**A/N:** Notice that there are certain demons who use two _honorifics_ with Akashi's name. I just want to keep their usage of the honorific to keep their characteristic. But there is a demon who call Akashi by his first name even though he doesn't in canon. Just ignore that one. Just ignore _everything_. Anyway, it's AU. XDDD

**Rant:** My grades are dying. I don't care anymore. /wrist


	2. Lesson 2

**Disclaimer:** '_born on the day of earthquakes' _does not own Kuroko no Basuke.

**Warning:** Unbeta'd. OOC.

* * *

**Summoner 101: Lesson 2**

_Strong demons have at least three forms: (1) their demon form - the form they were born with, or the form they first used and probably continually using in the demon world, (2) their original form, or the first form they take after being summoned in the human world, and (3) their human form. The human form is not always achieved because it takes great power and concentration __for a demon __to be able to execute._

* * *

Akashi lay down on his bed. His eyes were closed and his breaths were even. His cheeks were still plump with baby fat.

Midorima and Aomine had always assumed their human forms in mid-teenage. This made it easier for them to hang around their smaller master, who seems to be so playful like any child would be. Murasakibara, however, looked rather tall even if the human form he was taking was also teenaged.

Kuroko took the human form that was about the same age as his master. His co-familiars minded it at first, because Kuroko was taken very lightly by anyone who sees him due to his small size. But Kuroko could only copy what his master looked like, changing the color of the eyes and hair. His eyes remained round and emotionless though.

...

"I half-expected you to have dark hair and dark eyes in human form. But blue hair and eyes fits you!" Akashi told him when Kuroko transformed for the first time. "You look like a snow fairy now. I wonder if your powers are manipulating snow...?"

"Snow fairies don't exist, Akashi-sama," Midorima said. He turned to Kuroko. "Indeed, what abilities can you offer to protect our master, Kuroko?"

Kuroko blinked, inclining his head to the side, thinking. "Abilities?"

"Yes, abilities!" Aomine yelled. "Our master is one of the strongest summoners. We've got to protect him."

Kuroko just shook his head. "I have... no abilities."

"What ridiculousness is that?!" Aomine yelled. "No abilities? Do you mean you're just here to freeload on Sei-sama's power?"

"Don't worry," Akashi said. "I call demons for companion. So you don't have to bully Tetsuya."

"We're not bullying him, Aka-chin-sama," Murasakibara said. "We've just making sure you're putting your trust on the right individual."

"I don't have abilities..." Kuroko whispered. His blank eyes closed as he moved towards Akashi. "But I like Akashi-kun..."

"I like Tetsuya too!" Akashi said, patting Kuroko's head. "And I also like Shintarou, Daiki and Atsushi!"

...

Kuroko stared at the sleeping human. His first change into human form was already a month ago. He still wasn't used to living in the human realm. It was more comfortable in the demon world, but he really didn't mind staying in the human world especially after the latest incident he had in the demon world.

He stared at his sleeping master... How peculiar. A master, that is.

"Is it really that exhausting after summoning a demon?" a golden fox said while jumping to the chair just beside the bed of the red-haired child.

"What do you think? Huh, idiot?" Aomine said. "You've never been summoned before, haven't you?"

"I've been summoned by another master already," the fox said, sniffing at the sleeping child. "But never by someone so young yet so strong. And also not by someone with so many familiars. Anyway, my former masters are so careless so I've killed some of them on the spot or after I did the mission they assigned to me."

"Aka-chin-sama is really strong..." Murasakibara said slowly. "But if you dare hurt him, I'll crush you."

"Seriously, what's with you guys?" the fox said. "He's just a human. What's so good with him?"

"Kise Ryouta," Midorima called the golden fox. "You've got guts saying those words even if you're just a lowly demon."

"Lowly demon?" Kise repeated, danger playing in his gold eyes.

The fox turned to his human form easily, a beautiful man with golden hair and eyes. His large ears and fluffy tail remained, though unseen by regular humans and lower demons.

A small hand grabbed end of the sleeves of Kise's black kimono. The fox in human form turned to find that the red-haired boy woke up and was staring at him with sparkling eyes.

"You're so cute, Ryouta..."

Kise Ryouta, the demon summoned just earlier this morning, stood frozen while his co-familiars chuckled at Akashi's comment.

"No," Kise said, picking the small boy. "_You_'re cute, Akashichi-sama..."

This time, Kise's co-familiars watched frozen as Akashi patted Kise's head while the fluffy fox tail waved back and forth excitedly. Kuroko remained chuckling silently though.

_'A dog?'_ they thought.

At that time, their human master, Akashi Seijuro, was still four years old.


	3. Lesson 3

**Disclaimer:** _born on the day of earthquakes_ does not own Kuroko no Basuke.

**A/N:** There are no pairings, I guess. Sorry if you're expecting one.

* * *

**Summoner 101: Lesson 3**

_Ability refers to a specific power manipulation technique that a demon can do. The most basic one that demons learn is to create a shield, usually around their summoner or themselves. Changing to human form is a basic ability too. Not all demons have these abilities. Some demons have abilities that they can only use in the demon world because of the abundance of needed power there._

* * *

"When you don't even have ability to offer Akashi-sama, then at least learn to create a shield for him," Midorima told the blue-haired, white-skinned familiar.

Kuroko slowly gathered power and brought his palms together, muttering the spell under his breath. A small pop resounded in the room and nothing else.

His small shoulders slumped.

"What in the world was that, Tetsu?" Aomine said. He brought his palms together. Without even muttering the words, a transparent blue wall appeared, fizzling with overcharged power. "You do it like that. Alright?"

Kuroko nodded and tried again. But he ended with the same result as he had earlier.

"Maybe you should do it like this?" Kise piped up. He snapped his fingers and a golden wall appeared around him and Akashi, who was using Kise's tail as a pillow.

It was an hour after lunch time, and they took the time for Kuroko to practice shield in the garden. Akashi fell asleep in the process.

Murasakibara offered Kuroko a pretzel stick. "I do it like this... sometimes."

The giant bit on his chocolate stick and a purple transparent wall appeared around Akashi and Kise.

"You can have your own way of creating the shield," Midorima said. Without even moving his hands, a green wall appeared around Akashi and Kise. "See? Just relax and see what you can do."

Kise shook his head. "You're my senior familiar but I learned using shield even before you did. Is this your first time being summoned?"

Kuroko nodded silently.

"No wonder you've got difficulty in maintaining even your small human form," Kise continued. "You can't even do any of your demon abilities here in the human world."

Kuroko's head bowed deeper.

"Ryouta," Akashi opened a red eye as he turned to the fox. He cuddled to the golden tail while speaking. "Don't bully Tetsuya..."

"But Akashichi-sama..." Kise began, but he saw that Akashi had returned to sleep. He just sighed. "If your familiars are your children, Akashichi-sama, I'd be your youngest child. But why aren't I the one you're spoiling?"

"Because you don't even look cute," Aomine immediately said as he and the others dispelled their shields.

"How mean. Akashichi-sama called me _cute_, Aominechi..."

"Stop with the '-chi' thing."

"No way."

Kuroko took a deep breath. Slowly, he tried to gather some power again. He imagined the wall of power around his young human master, unconsciously gathering shadows around his being.

Kise yelped as he jumped out of the way. A pure black wall appeared around Akashi, setting the fur of Kise's tail on fire. The fox moved towards the pond to cool his burnt tail while the black box disappeared in moments.

"Akashi-kun... Kise-kun..."

Kuroko closed his eyes and gave in to unconsciousness.

* * *

"Tetsuya! Good, you're awake!"

The blue-haired familiar opened his eyes and instantly turned to the small face swimming into his vision. Akashi smiled at him before moving towards Kise, putting his small palms over the golden tail and muttering a healing spell.

Midorima moved closer, looking over the smaller familiar. "Are you alright?"

"Midorima-kun..." Kuroko looked up as he watched Akashi and Kise. Aomine was sitting at the corner of the room while Murasakibara sat on the sofa Akashi and Kise were sitting on.

"You're in your rabbit form, Tetsu," Aomine said helpfully. Kuroko looked at his own form and indeed he was in his original form.

"What... happened?"

"You fainted after casting your first shield," Midorima said. "You reverted back to your original form after you lost consciousness."

"He must have used a lot of power for that shield," Kise exclaimed. "It burned me! You should know your target better next time, Kurokochi. I'm on your side, you know."

"Don't move, Ryouta!" Akashi said, trying to hold the golden fox tail in place. Kise immediately listened to his master's order and settled down. Akashi closed his healing spell with a seal formed by his hand. "That was really careless of you, Tetsuya. But you'll get better at it soon."

"Yes, Akashi-kun. And I'll be careful next time..."

Kuroko promised himself that he'll be careful in protecting their human master, Akashi Seijuro, who was just four years old at that time.


	4. Lesson 4

**Disclaimer:** _born on the day of earthquakes_ does not own Kuroko no Basuke.

* * *

**Summoner 101: Lesson 4**

_The demon world holds many demons. Of all these demons, the strongest one is the demon king, but very few know of this king. Humans could never dream of summoning the demon king because of the immense strength that the demon king possesses and the demonic power it needs._

_To become a demon king, the current demon king must be challenged and killed by only one demon in order to fully take the demon king title. No one has any idea how the first demon king was chosen, though._

* * *

The dark clouds churned in the skies of the demon realm. Lightning struck and the skies rumbled as the demonic power in the air intensified with the change in the current demon king's mood.

"Where is he? I still have to defeat him..." the demon king muttered. No amount of reading novels could calm him down today.

"The former demon king is summoned to the human world," a lower demon reported, bowing to his shadow-clad king.

"So he escaped," the current king said. "I might have defeated him but I have not killed him. The title demon king will be mine fully if I end his life."

A silent echo resounded in the air.

"A summon, huh?" the demon king said. "Let me answer it."

The demon king raised his hand, letting the silent echo resound in his being. It was a strong summon, so the demon king allowed himself to be carried slowly through the path temporarily created to the human world. He put his hand through the gate to the human world, but the gate burst into flames and disappeared.

The summoning failed.

On the other end of the summoning, the summoner had burst into flames after the power of the demon king overwhelmed him. Nothing but ashes of the human remained.

* * *

Akashi turned to the door as it opened and smiled as he saw a familiar face.

"Nijimura-sensei!"

"Good morning, Seijuro-kun," the doctor said, stepping into the white-walled room. He regarded the familiars in their human forms, taking note of the appearance of the two newer ones. "I see you've summoned again."

"Momoi-sensei asked permission to dad for me," Akashi said cheerfully. "Can you believe that dad agreed for me to summon two demons in one month?"

"Well, isn't that great?" Nijimura said as he sat on the stool beside Akashi's bed. He put his tools on the bedside table and Akashi automatically held out his arm. "We'll just be doing a checkup today."

Akashi brightened even more. "No new medicine to take? No shots?"

"None... and none," Nijimura said as he ruffled Akashi's red hair.

Honestly, the doctor almost couldn't take it. The red hair of his superior, the president of the laboratory, and the red hair of his patient, the prized experimental subject of the facility, are very much similar. It was enough to lose Nijimura's head.

Nijimura might as well have ran away from the laboratory if not for the fact that Akashi seemed to favor him and Momoi-sensei from the other doctors in the laboratory. It is illegal to experiment on humans, but with the president's and facility's vision and mission of expanding the knowledge on use of magic and demons, there is no such thing as illegal.

There is no such thing as family connections either.

Akashi stared at the sad expression on the face of his doctor.

"Tell me about the world outside, Nijimura-sensei," Akashi suddenly said, snapping the doctor out of his thoughts.

The doctor still smiled sadly, putting the wrap around Akashi's small arm to take his blood pressure. "Is there any topic you want to know about?"

"You said something about a sport called basketball," Akashi started. "How is it played?"

Nijimura smiled. "There are two teams..."

At that time, Akashi Seijuro was just four years old.


	5. Lesson 5

**Disclaimer:**_ born on the day of earthquakes_ does not own Kuroko no Basuke.

**A/N:** The story gets a little darker.

* * *

**Summoner 101: Lesson 5**

_When demons are summoned in the human world, their power comes mostly from their summoner. The stronger the summoner, the stronger the demon will be. Consequently, a strong demon needs a strong summoner. The summoner acts a connection between the human and demon worlds, thus explaining their abilities to summon, perform magic and be a source of a demon's power._

* * *

Akashi watched as Kuroko clasped his hands together, snapped his fingers, bite on a pretzel stick or stood still. But nothing really happened. No shields appeared.

"Practice is over, Kuroko," Midorima said.

"But..."

"Akashi-sama is getting tired," the green-haired male said. "It's time to rest."

"It's alright," Akashi said. "Let Tetsuya continue."

"Akashi-sama..."

"It's unfair," Kise interjected. "Why are you only spoiling Kurokochi, Akashichi-sama?"

"I'm not spoiling Tetsuya," Akashi said. "He seem so intent on learning the shield technique so I want to give him more time for practice."

"You still need rest, Sei-sama," Aomine said. "Sorry, Tetsu, but you can feel that Sei-sama is really tired right now, can't you?"

Kuroko raised his eyebrows in realization. He only felt his master's tiredness that came with the unusual uneven flow of power from Akashi when Aomine pointed it out. "Sorry, Akashi-kun. They're right, we should rest."

"Okay, thank you," Akashi said gently. He raised his arms towards Midorima and the teen with the glasses picked the red-haired boy up. The boy wrapped his arms around the neck of his familiar and instantly fell asleep.

"He must really be tired," Kise commented. "It must be a burden for him to have us five all at once..."

Murasakibara munched on his crackers. "I'm only taking little power from him. Don't blame me."

"Yes, I noticed," Midorima said softly, careful not to wake his master. "You clean the refrigerator faster when you feed on less demonic power."

"Should we revert back to our original forms?" Aomine asked. "That takes less power than us all having human forms."

"No, Akashi-sama has enough power to control fifteen to twenty normal-rank demons, or six or seven top-rank demons, all at the same time," Midorima said. "It seems that us combined is enough to drain him, even though there are only five of us who are mostly top-ranked."

"Kurokochi must be taking less power that any of us," Kise said. "It may be his training, though."

"Must be," Midorima said.

"But shield is very simple," Murasakibara said.

"Tetsu's still mastering it, anyway," Aomine said. "He may be taking power from Sei-sama more than necessary for the technique."

The other familiars turned to the small, paler one. Kuroko just nodded silently at their unvoiced question.

Indeed, Kuroko was taking more power from Akashi. But it was actually less than he actually needs. Kuroko was still trying to gain his power and learn his abilities in the human world, after all.

* * *

In the discussion room of the laboratory, the doctors sat around a table.

"Patient 0542 exploded into flames today..."

"So that is why there was fire in the southern department today..."

"... I heard it was instant death."

"What was it he summoned?"

"We don't know, but the machines reacted strongly to the point of being destroyed..."

"... must be a very, very strong demon, then."

"What should we do, Mr. President?"

There was silence after that question. The one who sat at the head of the table had been silent the whole time, listening to all the information he could gather from the chatters of his employees.

Nijimura-sensei sat to his right while Momoi-sensei sat to his left. Both looked emotionless but they were all worried in the inside. They already has a suspicion on where this would lead.

The president of the laboratory finally spoke, "Do you still have a sample of power from this demon?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then get demon signature from that power sample and let Patient 0001 summon this demon," the president continued. "We'll see how strong this demon really is."

Nijimura-sensei and Momoi-sensei froze in their seats while their co-workers continued talking.

Patient 0001, Akashi Seijuro, was just four years old then.


	6. Lesson 6

**Disclaimer:** Kuroko no Basuke is not owned by _born on the day of earthquakes_.

**A/N:** This about the last paragraph of each chapter. It's like a writing style that tells that the paragraph that includes Akashi's age and him being a master/summoner/Patient 0001 is the last paragraph in the chapter or that the chapter is ending. It can also denote a possible time skip or how much time the story already progressed (in that case, based on Akashi's age.) I hope you wouldn't mind because some of the succeeding chapters are like that. :)

Anyway, about the late upload, I was finishing some things in real life. Damn real life. XD

* * *

**Summoner 101: Lesson 6**

_Demons are bound to their summoner when they are in the human world. That is the reason why most demons kill their summoner during summons, especially if the demon does not want to be summoned or do not want to be under anyone. But there are demons who give their master their high, if not the highest regards, especially if their summoner is exceptionally powerful._

* * *

Akashi stared at the glob of darkness on his hands.

"It's similar to Tetsuya's," he remarked, watching the black essence. "What should I do with this, Momoi-sensei?"

"Your father wants you to summon the demon who owns that demon power," the young female doctor said. She certainly was surprised to see a child young enough to be her son to hold a demon essence with bare hands. Doctors and other personnel in the facility are given strict discipline and tools just to transport the said demon power. Many of the doctors had gone crazy and died after the essence hit them, even if it was just a tiny drop.

It seems that this is the prize of getting a mind above average: to work in a secret facility and see the most extraordinary things, like a child invulnerable to demonic power. Not to mentioned, he has summoned five top-ranked demons who are completely submissive to him. And he did all that without burning up from too much demon power.

"Hmm..." Akashi regarded the demon power sitting on his palms. "Okay! I'll call him. But I'm not sure if I'll keep him here in the human world. It's already enough with Shintarou, Daiki, Atsushi, Tetsuya and Ryouta here."

"But your father is really interested with it," Momoi said. "Can you keep it here for a few days?"

"Oh... okay," Akashi visibly saddened that Momoi felt sorry for him. He turned to Momoi with large red eyes. "And the demon is a guy, not a thing. Please stop referring him as _'it'_, Momoi-sensei."

"I... I see," Momoi replied nervously. In her studies, demons actually didn't care for their sex at all. After all, demons do not exercise reproduction. They are born naturally from the essence that lurk in the darkness of the demon world. _'Like mushrooms,'_ Momoi wanted to add.

But the child before her views them differently. It might be the reason why the child is highly regarded by his familiars. Or maybe, the child is nothing but a genius, and she could never understand how the child thinks.

"When will I summon the demon, Momoi-sensei?" Akashi asked, still holding on the essence.

"Oh, whenever you're free, Akashi-kun."

"Can I summon him now?"

Momoi raised her eyebrows. "_Erm_, if you can do the necessary preparations immediately, then yes, you can...?"

"I'll go to the summoning room then!" Akashi exclaimed brightly. He immediately jumped off his bed, running through the door while his familiars hurried after him.

"Akashi-sama! Wait!"

Midorima, Aomine, Murasakibara and Kise exited the room after their master. Momoi just watched them go, sighing. An average summoner requires at least two days of preparation before the actual demon summons. One must be composed on facing a demon, because demons attack when one is at their weakest. For a child to be excited to summon an unknown demon and to know which demon to summon based on plainly looking at their raw essence defines the child's genius.

A light tapping on her shoulder snapped Momoi out of her thoughts. She turned to see a boy about Akashi's age, but with weird blue hair and eyes.

"I have a question, lady," the boy said.

_'So cute!'_ Momoi exclaimed in her head. She never thought that she had interest on children like that. She leaned down and smiled. "What is it?"

And then, for a moment, she was torn. She never expected to see such a dark glint in the eyes of a child, but now she did see. She had never seen blue eyes that were as cold as what she had witnessed.

"What are the reasons for making Akashi-kun summon such a demon?" the child asked. Momoi just stood frozen as the question slowly processed in her mind.

"Who are you...?"

_'The voice was not owned by a child'_, Momoi thought.

"Answer me, lady."

As Momoi heard the voice, she thought she could not move. She began to panic. "It's already as I've told you!" she almost yelled. "The president wants to see the demon who owns that essence."

"And you and that president of yours is not familiar with this demon?"

"That's what we want to know," Momoi tried to explain. "We only know that this particular demon is very powerful. We just want to know and see who this demon is."

The child raised his eyebrows. "I see," he said, moving towards the door. "Thank you for answering the question, lady. But I advice you against your decision to summon that demon."

"Why? Do you know the demon who owns that essence?" Momoi asked, frowning as she followed the child with her eyes. The boy turned back to her and she looked at him straight into the eyes. There was no emotion in them. "Who are you?" she asked again.

There was a very small smile on the lips of the child. It was a very small upturn of the corner of those small lips, but Momoi immediately noticed it on that wan, emotionless face.

"I'm just a familiar of Akashi-kun," came the reply.

Momoi thought there were shadows surrounding the small boy. She blinked. In that instant, the boy and the shadows were gone.

She sighed. She almost felt like a whole lot of weight was removed from her shoulders. She massaged her tensed shoulder muscles, thinking about what the blue-haired boy just told her. She had not noticed him when she came in, so since when was that child in the room?

And she never knew of a human experiment subject with blue hair. The child also mentioned that he was a familiar of Akashi.

"He was a demon?" Momoi absently said out loud. She put her hand over her mouth, frowning again at her thoughts. If that child was a demon and that he was a familiar of Akashi, why would he just casually address his master with _'-kun'_? Momoi knew that even the toughest of the familiars (which pertains to a certain blue-haired, tan-skinned familiar of Akashi) address their master with _'-sama'_. That seems to be a rule when it comes to summoned demons.

The young doctor just shrugged. She might be over thinking things. That familiar of four-year-old Akashi Seijuro might just be experiencing first summons to the human world.


	7. Lesson 7

**Disclaimer:** Kuroko no Basuke is not owned by _born on the day of earthquakes._

**A/N:** I amuses me to find you guys guessing who the 'former' and the 'current' demon kings are. Some explanations, if they make sense, are in this chapter. :)

At the same time, a friend of mine was also amused to find me using Sublime Text 2 for editing stories before uploading it. And she kept asking me if this story was a oneshot because all chapters are in a single text file. So if that single text file is deleted or corrupted, this story is good as dead. XB -in the process of making a backup file-

* * *

**Summoner 101: Lesson 7**

_Magic and demons come mostly from the demon world, but power can also come from human life force. If the summoner is not careful in separating his life force from the power he feeds his familiars or he uses in his magic, the summoner could die._

* * *

The light came and went. It was dark in the room again.

A red-haired boy stared at the other circle. He half-turned towards the direction of his familiars before running full speed into the other circle, much to the chagrin of the taller males.

A dark glob of darkness sat there. The boy picked it up and stared at it. Light blue eyes blinked before meeting with the larger red ones.

The child brightened. "You look like Tetsuya!"

The light blue eyes tried to see its own form, albeit partly. Floppy gray-and-white bunny ears protruded from its head. Same gray-and-white fur lined his body.

He was a rabbit, a fluffy gray one.

"What is your name?" the red-haired boy asked him. This must be his summoner. Unlike the first one who immediately burst into flames after his touch, this red-eyed child could touch him and support his enormous need of demonic power from the demon world. And the call that echoed in the demon world was specifically for him, so he easily brought himself through the demon gates to the human world.

But the name the child mentioned struck him. It was familiar.

_'My name is...'_ the bunny started, communicating with his mind to his master.

_Master_... the word felt odd to him.

"Yes, your name?" the child led on, still smiling. The bunny could still see the warm red sparks that envelop the body of the child, an after effect of the summoning. It was beautiful.

_'Mayu...'_

A blue-and-white form caught his attention. When he fully looked, he saw a blue-haired pale form of a child in the darkness. He was familiar with that form, but he never knew that it could turn into something so childishly human.

Blue met light-blue eyes. One moment, the red-haired human boy was holding a gray bunny. Later, that said boy was lying on the ground. In half a beat, four familiars were around the boy.

"Akashichi-sama!"

"Akachin-sama...!"

"Seijuro-sama...!"

"Akashi-sama!" the green-haired demon in human form shook his master, trying to wake the child. But the boy remained unresponsive.

Meanwhile, a male form stood in the room. He was about the same age as the other familiars, probably mid- to late-teenage. His dark gray hair was cut short, exposing pale flesh. His eyes were gray-blue and dead, carrying no emotions.

"Kuroko Tetsuya," the gray-blue eyed individual called the smaller form that stood before him. He towered over the smaller child. "You're here, I see. I never expected to find you so soon."

"Mayuzumi Chihiro," the form called Kuroko said. "What are you doing here in the human world?"

"What do you think you're doing, bastards?! Just chitchating like that!" the dark-skinned familiar yelled. Even in his human form, he seemed to growl. He turned to the newly summoned demon. "Who are you?"

The gray-blue-eyed demon turned to the one who had spoken but didn't address the question. "The body of the master is shocked by the unusually huge amount of demon power that courses through him from the demon world to his familiars. He is not in danger, so please calm down."

"Tone down the power, Mayuzumi," the light-blue-eyed child form said. Darkness lurked at his feet, weaving crazy patterns even if there was the light stood static in the corner of the room. "This is not the place to fight. Any more of the demon power and the master will fall into deeper slumber."

"What are you guys talking about?" a golden-haired teen form asked.

"Kise-kun should just stay quiet."

"Oh, okay... _wait_, why are you bullying me, Kurokochi?!"

"Kise-kun should just stay quiet."

"Waaah!"

"Kuroko," the green-haired male form suddenly said. "Who are you?"

"My name is Kuroko Tetsuya."

"I'm not asking about that. Who _are_ you?"

The child form called Kuroko considered the question. He sighed.

"I am nothing but a familiar to-"

"He's the demon king," the gray-blue-eyed teen said. "I am here to kill him to fully take his title from him. But since our fight will be troubling our master, I suppose we withhold this fight."

Suddenly, the tan and the golden-haired familiars burst out laughing.

"Tetsu's the demon king?"

"But Kurokochi's so small and weak!"

The familiars with original forms of rabbits just stared at those who are laughing. And then they looked at each other.

"It seems that they don't believe me," Mayuzumi said with a small smile.

"What are you doing here, Mayuzumi Chihiro?"

The familiar called Mayuzumi Chihiro feigned surprise. "I already told you, Kuroko Tetsuya. I am here to kill you. But since it might trouble Akashi-sama, then I'll withhold my challenge."

"Why are you doing this?" the smaller lightblue-haired boy asked. "You already defeated me, and Akashi-kun is just your summoner. You can just leave or kill us so easily."

"Akashi-sama _is_ my summoner and my master. The only one who succeeded bringing me to the human world, in fact. The human child gained my respect," Mayuzumi said as he looked pointedly at Kuroko before glancing towards the sleeping red-haired. "And I want to fight you at your full strength, Kuroko Tetsuya. You're still recovering from our previous fight, aren't you?"

The smaller demon just stood there silently.

"Oh," Mayuzumi said as he raised a finger. "Shouldn't we address our summoner as _Akashi-sama_? Aren't you being disrespectful again, demon king?"

Kuroko blinked, frowning a little bit. "I'll call Akashi-kun the way I want to..."

And _Akashi-kun_, the four-year-old summoner, remained sleeping on the arms of one of his familiars.


	8. Lesson 8

**Disclaimer:** Kuroko no Basuke is not owned by _born on the day of earthquakes._

* * *

**Summoner 101: Lesson 8**

_Demons gates are portals that connect the human world and the demon world. They can be found in different places in the world. And they can be inside a human being. These human beings can manipulate the demon power that comes from the demon gate, thus they can use magic and summon demons._

* * *

"So _that child_ successfully summoned the demon who burned out Patient 0542," the president of the facility said. "And where is the summoned demon, Momoi-sensei?"

"The demon familiar is with Patient 0001," the doctor said.

"Is it possible to meet this familiar?"

Momoi looked at her superior. "The familiar, sir?"

"Yes," the president answered. "I want to meet that familiar. Set a meeting with the demon this afternoon at 4pm."

It took a while for Momoi to form her answer.

"Y-Yes, sir."

* * *

Tak, tak.

Tak.

... _tak_.

Akashi smiled, looking up to Midorima, who had a troubled look on his face after making that hesitant turn.

"You should know that that attack won't work this time, don't you?" Akashi said. He moved a piece. "It seems that this is my fifth win."

Midorima sighed. "Indeed."

Akashi smiled, leaning on Murasakibara like the familiar was an oversized pillow, as Midorima started arranging the shogi pieces on the board. The boy closed his red eyes as the purple-haired giant continued munching on snacks.

"Akachin-sama... are you tired again?" Murasakibara asked childishly, shifting his body to give Akashi a better position.

"I'm a little bit sleepy." Akashi yawned as Aomine and Kise burst through the door. They were looking around with wild looks in their eyes.

Suddenly, Kise screamed. A white hand rested on his shoulder.

"You're _it_," said a disembodied voice behind the golden-haired familiar.

"Kurokochi!" Kise yelled. "You're so scary!"

"Yeah, Tetsu," Aomine said, holding a hand to his chest. "I thought I was going to die for a moment there."

"It's just hide-and-seek," Kuroko said with his monotonous voice.

"But you sure are so serious about it!" Aomine and Kise chorused.

Kuroko looked away, for a moment. "I am... _not_."

"You hesitated before 'not', didn't you?!"

"Demons, tone down your voices," another disembodied voice sounded. Kise almost shrieked again but Aomine put a hand over his mouth.

Mayuzumi smiled. "Akashi-sama is sleeping right now."

"Again?" Aomine asked.

"He's a growing boy," Midorima said.

Mayuzumi turned back to the novel he was reading. He sat precariously on the windowsill. "Having the demon king and a demon king challenger as his familiars is most likely to exhaust him."

"Mayuzumichi, you're saying that joke again..."

Mayuzumi just raised his eyebrows.

"It's not a joke," Kuroko suddenly said. "Kise-kun."

Aomine burst out laughing. "The joke's not really funny, but I can't help laughing."

The door of the room opened again. It was Momoi.

"Good morning, everyone," she said softly. Hey eyes landed on the sleeping human in the room. "Oh, Akashi-kun is still asleep?"

"He's tired," Midorima said shortly.

Momoi turned to the lone demon sitting on the windowsill. "Mayuzumi Chihiro-san, right? May I talk to you, for a moment?"

But the demon ignored her.

"Er, Mayuzumi Chihiro-san...?"

The demon still ignored her. Momoi wondered if she got its name wrong.

Kise rushed to Momoi's side. "What do you want to ask Mayuzumichi, Momoi-san?"

"Oh... uh," Momoi started saying, hesitant. "The president of this facility wants to meet with Mayuzumi-san this afternoon at four. Will that be alright?"

"The president?" Murasakibara repeated as his hand involuntarily crushed the snack he was munching on. "I'll crush him the moment he steps into this room."

"That was a rather cold statement from you, Murasakibarachi," Kise said. "It's Akashichi-sama's father, isn't it? Why will you do something like that?"

But only awkward silence followed Kise's question.

"Er... hey, everyone?" Kise called, but no one answered him.

"Mayuzumi," Midorima suddenly said. "You heard Momoi-sensei's question. What's your answer?"

Mayuzumi didn't even take his eyes off the novel he was reading. "I'm not interested in any human other our master. But whatever Akashi-sama says, I'll follow."

"Hmm...?"

Midorima, Aomine, Murasakibara, Kuroko, Kise and even Mayuzumi turned as they heard the voice. Akashi rubbed his eyes as he sat up from leaning against his giant familiar.

"I heard my name... Are you guys talking about me?" Akashi said softly. He turned and saw Momoi standing by the door. "Momoi-sensei! How are you?"

"I'm fine, Akashi-kun," Momoi said, brightening as she saw the face of the young one.

"Am I going to summon another demon today?" Akashi asked curiously.

"No," Momoi said. "Remember, you just summoned Mayuzumi Chihiro-san yesterday. And your father wants to meet him today at four in the afternoon. Is that okay with you?"

"Chihiro..." Akashi turned at the demon. He paused, seemingly in deep thought while having a sad look on his face. "Will you meet with my father this afternoon?"

Mayuzumi closed the book he was reading to give Akashi his full attention. "I'll do what you ask, Akashi-sama. But, if you don't mind me asking, why are you wearing such an expression?"

Akashi just grabbed on Murasakibara's clothes. "I want to see father too..."

Six familiars and a doctor looked at the red-haired human in the room. It seems that the four-year-old human master misses his father even though the father and son lived in the same underground facility.


	9. Lesson 9

**Disclaimer:** Kuroko no Basuke is not owned by _born on the day of earthquakes_.

**A/N:** This chapter is my favorite. It's crappy and senseless, but I like it. XD

* * *

**Summoner 101: Lesson 9**

_Summoners should not show any weakness to their familiars so as not to be taken advantage of. After all, demons attack humans in their weakest state._

* * *

A child was holding on a white chalk. He was scribbling on the ground. He had just finished with a giant circle and was starting with a smaller one. And then he filled both with lines and scribbles.

Sitting on the smaller of the two circles, the child looked at his work. And then he smiled.

The circles suddenly lit up with red sparks. The child watched as a lot of eyeballs materialized in thin air above the larger circle while being held by thin strings of darkness. The strings tightened, bringing the eyeballs close together. Some eyes popped as the eyes moved towards each other, oozing black juice. And then, suddenly, a black bird perched right in the middle of the larger circle.

The child just blinked as the red sparks died down.

"I am Midorima Shintarou," a booming voice said. "Who dares call me? State your name."

The child continued to stare at the multiple-eyed bird, taken in by the unearthly green that those eyes carry. For some reason, the child gave it bubbly laughter.

"Akachi Cheijulho!"

The child laughed again before getting all-fours. He began crawling to the larger circle fearlessly. He stretched a hand and grabbed at the demon bird.

"Shintalho... cute!"

...

"Midorima-kun. Midorima-kun."

The green-haired male snapped out of his daydream. He still held the child that summoned him around two years ago, sleeping comfortably on his arms.

"Midorima-kun," called the monotonous voice that woke the larger male. Kuroko stretched his small arms out. "I'll be the one to carry Akashi-kun."

Midorima raised his eyebrows.

"Kuroko, you do realize," Midorima said slowly. "That you won't be able to carry Akashi-sama with those thin arms of yours."

"How mean," Kuroko said. He angled an arm while patting it. "Look at these biceps."

"... _where?_"

* * *

It was the carelessness of a maid to leave the three-year-old child with a box of chalk. So the child began drawing the circles that he kept seeing in his dreams.

It was a large and a small one. The smaller one has more scribbles of the unfamiliar language than the other circle, while the larger one has less writings but with more cryptic curved lines. Straight lines formed bridges between these two circles.

The child willed the red sparks to appear. He could remember that he had already done this before.

A furry wolf appeared in the larger circle. It looked menacing with it blue eyes and gray fur, but the child approached anyway.

"... Aomine Daiki," the wolf said in its deep voice. "Whoever calls that name will taste the earth demon's fury...!?"

A pair of arms wrapped around the neck of the large gray wolf without hesitation.

"Daiki is very cute!"

* * *

This time, it was the fault of an oblivious new doctor that the red-haired summoner got his hands on a box of chalk.

As usual, darkness filled the room. A giant furry silhouette about twenty feet tall stood out against the only light in the room, which happened to be the red sparks. The large form barely fit in the large circle that the child had drawn.

A human skull crumbled on that large hand. Long hair fell like silk upon broad shoulders, yet still exposing a chest that boasted rock-hard muscles.

A huge mouth opened to let out the loud voice. "Murasakibara Atsushi shall crush you..."

A toddler came running with arms stretched, sinking into the fluffy purple fur that enveloped the giant.

"Atsushi is really cute!"

* * *

Blue eyes blinked again. Black fur grew thickly around the round object. Two long ears shot from the head while a small nose sniffed at the hand holding the small demon.

"A black rabbit?" Akashi said. "You're so cute, Tetsuya."

* * *

A small hand grabbed end of the sleeves of Kise's black kimono. The fox in human form turned to find that the red-haired boy woke up and was staring at him with sparkling eyes.

"You're so cute, Ryouta..."

* * *

"Oh," Mayuzumi said slowly as he watched the grim faces of his co-familiars and the smiling, proud face of his master. He was chuckling inwardly. "So Akashi-sama called everyone _cute_..."

... "Except for me," the last familiar to be summoned didn't forget to add that line with a smug look on his face.

"Ah, Chihiro," Akashi called, running towards the novel-lover. He reached up to ruffle Mayuzumi's gray hair. "Chihiro is very, very cute too!"

This time, all of Akashi's familiars looked ashen (but the golden-haired one didn't look too ashen, really).

They are demons — five top-level demons and a demon who managed to get the title of demon king. To be called 'cute' by their four-year-old master wasn't expected.

Not at all.

* * *

**Order of Summoning**

**Familiar Name (Akashi Seijuro's age during the summons) - original form:**

Midorima Shintarou (2 years old) - multiple-eyed demon bird

Aomine Daiki (3 years old) - blue-eyed, silver wolf

Murasakibara Atsushi (3 years old) - purple-haired giant

Kuroko Tetsuya (4 years old) - lightblue-eyed, black bunny

Kise Ryouta (4 years old) - golden fox

Mayuzumi Chihiro (4 years old) - grayblue-eyed, gray bunny


	10. Lesson 10

**Disclaimer:** Kuroko no Basuke is not owned by _born on the day of earthquakes_.

* * *

**Summoner 101: Lesson 10**

_Demons follow a heirarchy in the demon world based on the power they possess and manipulate. The demon king is the highest rank, followed by the top-level demons who can challenge the current demon king. And the rest are normal demons that spend their lives lurking in the darkness. Very few summoners can summon top-level demons._

* * *

Nijimura made a hand seal, swiping the said hand as if he was cutting an invisible thread in front of him. The small, normal-level demon in front of him shrieked before disappearing.

Akashi watched with wide eyes.

"He's gone?" the boy asked. He absently grabbed to his right side, where Murasakibara was sitting and munching on a snack. A transparent purple cube surrounded them as they sat on the ground.

"It's gone," the doctor said, noticing the boy's actions.

Akashi gripped tighter on Murasakibara's clothes. "He'll never return?"

"It will return, if you summon it properly," Nijimura said, smiling. He turned around as the shield around Akashi and Murasakibara were dispelled. "Where are your other familiars?"

"They stayed in my room with Chihiro. They're going to meet my father," Akashi replied. He looked even sadder. "I want to go back to my room too..."

* * *

"So you are Mayuzumi Chihiro. I am the head of this facility," the red-haired middle-aged man in the room stated. "You don't look very strong."

Mayuzumi chuckled softly. "As next in line to being the demon king, I do not take that insult lightly."

A black scythe suddenly appeared, created by the shadows that was connected to Mayuzumi's fingertips. It swung briefly with the tip coming to stop and rest lightly on the man's neck.

"But my master seems to take a great liking to you, human," Mayuzumi said, watching blood drip slowly down on the man's neck. "So I'll let you off with that small wound."

The president gritted his teeth. The small wound that Mayuzumi was talking about brought a great pain, like he was just stuck with a knife through the neck. The shadow was made of pure demon power and most humans cannot touch it directly without getting hurt. "What is it about that child that you like?"

"Aren't you my master's father?" Mayuzumi asked. "You should be the one telling me about Akashi-sama's good qualities."

"I'm not his father," the president said. "He is a bastard's son. My sister ran off and died with some unknown bastard. I only took the child in after my sister's death."

"So Akashi-sama is your nephew, then," Mayuzumi said. "And the master still carries the Akashi blood."

The demon watched with amusement as the human before him seem to boil with anger.

"He should have never lived!" the president yelled. "Where is that child, anyway? You vile demon should be punished because of your rudeness."

"How can I not be rude?" Mayuzumi asked. He snapped his fingers and a book materialized. "I am the next king of demons. Almost considered as the demon king, since my predecessor ran away here to the human world."

Mayuzumi began reading. Seriously, this meeting was a complete waste of his time.

And then he felt hot tea thrown at him. It was supposed to be the tea that the president should be drinking. The man threw the empty tea cup, making its pieces clatter on the floor. After the crashing sound of breaking ceramics, the door opened to show Momoi rushing inside.

"President...?" she asked nervously. "Is there something wrong?"

The president was already at his feet, walking towards the door.

"Tell that child to banish this demon," the president said while wiping his hands with his handkerchief. "Summoning is a complete waste on that brat—"

Momoi screamed. Ropes of darkness wrapped around her and the president, bringing her and the man indescribable pain.

"I thought I could let you go with that rude comments of yours. But I guess I have a excuse to kill you now that you dirtied my book," Mayuzumi said. "And you'll never get away after you've insulted my master."

The door to the room opened for the second time.

"Chihiro! Stop!"

Akashi rushed to tackle his familiar, only that the demon remained standing to catch his running master.

"Akashi-sama..." Mayuzumi said. "What are you doing here?"

"I finished my lessons with Nijimura-sensei," Akashi explained. "Anyway, please don't hurt my father."

Mayuzumi watched those large red eyes before sighing. "Alright."

Akashi smiled before he turned to Momoi and the president. The shadows slowly let them go, leaving them with burns all over their body. Akashi slowly approached the president as Kise gently led Momoi out of the room.

"Father, I'm sorry..."

"Don't touch me," the president said, strongly pushing the child away. "Bastard's son."

Akashi lost balance from shock after the man pushed him away. A soft cushion of shadows caught him as he fell.

"Akashi-kun..." Kuroko approached the dazed child.

The red-haired boy saw his small demon familiar. He stood up from the cushion of shadows to hug Kuroko, shaking. Their four-year-old master, Akashi Seijuro, silently cried on the arms of his lightblue-haired, lightblue-eyed familiar.

* * *

**EXTRA:**

The small black bunny, which looked suspiciously like Tetsuya, licked his toe as it launched on his feet, sending tickling sensations through his spine. Another gray one came into view, reminding the child of his other familiar Chihiro, doing the same thing as the black rabbit did on the other foot.

Akashi knew he was laughing. He was laughing too hard as he lay on his bed.

A white rabbit appeared. It jumped onto his legs, gripping painfully on his skin with rather sharp claws. Another white fluff appeared, and then another, and another. Soon enough, the small four-year-old boy was covered with white fluffy fur.

It was suffocating him. He couldn't breath. He wasn't even laughing.

And then Akashi opened his eyes, trying to take in deep breaths. But he still couldn't, as arms that wrapped around him wound around too tightly. Powder blue hair and white skin registered into his head as he looked, calming down when he saw that it was only Tetsuya who was hugging him.

The small child carefully loosened the arms around him, sniffing. He was crying in his sleep, as suggested by the tear-streaks on his chubby cheeks. He wiped on them, smearing the salty liquid on his own pale skin.

His movements caused the small familiar beside him to groan.

They were on his bed. The two of them must have fallen asleep together after that incident with Akashi's father.

Akashi watched Tetsuya closely when the small familiar groaned. It looked like the blue-haired boy was having a nightmare.

"Tetsuya?"

* * *

**A/N:**

To disappoint you readers, THERE IS NO ACTUAL REASON WHY THOSE TWO DEMON KINGS ARE RABBITS. MWAHAHA!

Though this might be affected by that late bunny owned by my former dorm roommate that kept licking my toes even though I'm on the top bunk of our beds. And that evil bunny actually peed on my class handouts! (Excuse me for those who are eating while reading this.) It's cute, though, and I actually miss it sometimes. It died during a storm because it got sick, I think. RIP, Fluffy.

Why do I suddenly feel like having a couple of rabbits as pets now?

Anyway, Mayuzumi is so talkative in this fic. And late updates is because I started working. :)


	11. Lesson 11

**Disclaimer:** _born on the day of earthquakes_ does not own _The Basketball Which Kuroko Plays_.

* * *

**Summoner 101: Lesson 11**

_Humans without a demon gate can also use magic. This can be done by storing demon power in a container for later use or by gathering demon power from a nearby demon gate. They can summon demons too, if there is enough demon power to maintain the demon in the human world._

* * *

**...**

_He smiled, watching the younger demon that followed him._

_"Do you really have to leave?" the younger demon asked. There was something unusual on the face of that younger demon — something called _emotion_._

_He continued to smile. "This isn't like you at all."_

_The younger demon stood before him silently with a frown on his face._

_"You defeated me at our last battle," he said, ruffling the hair of the younger one. "You have the right to take the title of the demon king... and it'll put me at ease to leave this world in your hands."_

_The younger demon pushed the hand away. "You're always doing that..."_

_"Your hair fits you."_

_"This is the form I'm born with," the younger said. "Of course, it'll fit me."_

_"Yes, yes." He laughed at the younger. "You're really talkative today."_

_"It's because you're leaving, _demon king_!"_

_"Oh, you're so formal right now..." he teased. "And I told you already, I'm no longer the demon king. You are."_

_He waved a hand and the darkness gathered. A rectangular door appeared at the gathered power. It was a demon gate. He turned towards the gate that will lead him to the other world._

_"Take care,..."_

**...**

"Tetsuya?"

Kuroko opened his eyes. Immediately, he saw wide red eyes staring back at him.

"Akashi-kun..."

"Good morning." Akashi looked worried. "It's like you're having a bad dream..."

Kuroko smiled slightly. "It's nothing, Akashi-kun."

The worried expression was not gone from Akashi's face as both of them sat up from bed. They both fell asleep on Akashi's bed after the incident yesterday, since Akashi refused to let go of his smallest familiar.

Kuroko's eyes landed on the only other familiar in the room. Akashi followed who he was looking at.

"Mayuzumi-kun..." Kuroko whispered.

Akashi smiled, watching his other familiar who sat on the chair beside the bed. "It seems that Chihiro fell asleep too. We shouldn't be too noisy or he'll wake."

Kuroko smiled. "I already told him that he's the demon king too..."

"What was it?" Akashi asked, unable to hear what the other said.

Kuroko turned back to his master, blue eyes running on that red hair and red eyes.

"Oh, I was just thinking about the irony," he said, snuggling towards his master. "There are some things that kept happening and happening again."

Akashi cocked his head to the side, still not understanding what his familiar was saying. But he smiled, running his hand on Kuroko's hair.

"Your hair fits you, Tetsuya."

Kuroko kept smiling. Really, it was ironic.

* * *

The president watched a couple of people work on the circle that he will use.

"I will summon a stronger demon than that of that child's," the president said. "In line to being a demon king? That Mayuzumi Chihiro? That's ridiculous. He looks so weak."

"President," one of the workers said. "We're finished in making the circle."

"Alright," the president said. "The demon power needed?"

"It's ready, sir," another worker replied. "But are you sure, sir? This is your first time to summon a demon. Maybe one of the patients should summon..."

"I will be the one to do the summons," the president said firmly. He stepped inside the circle while the workers rushed out of the room.

The man started saying the spell. He had learned it the night before, but he didn't bother putting all his attention to it. In his thoughts were, _'if the brat could do it, then even I...'_

He started to feel warm. And then, there was fire.

The president of the facility burst into flames. Later, there was nothing but ash left of him.

* * *

Akashi stood before the new tombstone.

It was his first time to go out of the underground laboratory. And the very first place he went to was a graveyard where his uncle was buried.

"Akashi-sama," Midorima called. He was carrying a large umbrella over his small master. "It's time to return."

Akashi seemed not to hear him. "He's gone?"

"Yes, he's gone," Midorima answered anyway. The sunlight was strong with such a fine morning, and he was sure that his master was sweating, especially in that place with no comfortable temperature due to the usual air conditioning in the laboratory and that thick suit, in contrast to the hospital gown that his master always wore.

"He'll never return?"

The demon frowned, as did the other demon familiars behind him.

Nijimura stepped forward and touched the shoulder of the small child. "Yes, he'll never return. He can never be summoned like demons."

Akashi looked up at the doctor. "Then father is..."

"The president is dead," Nijimura said without emotion. "You're finally free, Akashi-kun."

The child began to shake. He turned around to wrap his small arms around the waist of the tall doctor. Nijimura knelt down to rub the back of the crying boy.

"You'll never get shots again. You'll never take experimental drugs again," Nijimura said. "You're finally free, Akashi-kun."

Akashi's hug tightened. "But father is..."

"He's never your father. Or at least, he never considered you his child," the doctor said. He knew that his words are cruel, but the child should understand. He faced the odd red eyes of Akashi. "You'll be out of that hellhole of a laboratory and will live as a normal child. I'll make sure of that."

Akashi sniffed. "Where should I go?"

Nijimura smiled. "I'll enroll you to Teiko Gakuen. You'll learn there with other summoner children like you. You are finally going to school."

The four-year-old sniffed again. The young master of two demons who managed to hold the title of the demon king and four top-level demons, Akashi Seijuro, continued to stare at the doctor. He never knew that his life will take a great turn after that decision.

* * *

**A/N: **Yep, he's dead. I didn't even think of a name for him. I'm so random.


	12. Lesson 12

**Disclaimer:** _born on the day of earthquakes_ does not own _The Basketball that Kuroko Plays_.

* * *

**Summoner 101: Lesson 12**

_The very first summoner is the very first demon king. It managed to connect the human and demon worlds together with its power alone. And then it taught humans how to manipulate demon power in order to use magic and to summon demons. According to some old and powerful demons, the first demon king left the demon world even if the demon elders, the keepers of the demon rules, didn't allow it to leave._

* * *

Five demons looked at each other.

"What are you doing here?" "What are you doing here?"

"We're looking for the demon king." "We're looking for the demon king."

"Haha, it seems that we all have the same thoughts!" A pause came from the tall brown-haired male. "Wait, we're all looking for the same demon king, right?"

"Who else are you looking for? There is only _one_ demon king."

The dark-haired demon shrugged. "Yeah, but I don't really care about that guy."

"You're not very close to him, anyway."

The tall, brown-haired one continued to smile. "I don't have very close relations with him either. What's his name again?"

"Oh, his name is..."

**...**

"Akashi-sama."

"Akachin-sama..."

"Akashichi-sama!"

"Sei-sama."

"Akashi-kun."

Six demons seemed to flood into the room. The familiars were almost the same age — around fifteen years old.

"Oh, guys," a teenaged red-haired, red-eyed boy looked at the males that entered the room. He looked the same age as the forms of the demons. "What are you doing here?"

"It's the time for familiars to meet their masters," a golden-haired beautiful male enthusiastically said.

"It's such a waste to have the demons separate from their masters," a green-haired one said, pushing his glasses up his nose. "How can we protect you if were so far away, Akashi-sama?"

The red-haired boy called Akashi smiled. "You're just in the opposite room, Shintarou."

"Still." This time, it was the tall, dark-skinned male who spoke. "This is ridiculous. We can never predict when a surprise attack comes."

The giant with purple hair paused on his munching. "Akachin-sama is surprisingly lax..."

"I've already learned shield. I don't get as sleepy as I did when I was a kid either," Akashi enumerated. "And you guys are nearby..."

"Akashi-kun is indeed lax about his security," a small boy with light blue eyes and hair about the height of Akashi said.

"Come on, guys," Akashi said. "We're in this school for more than ten years. Shouldn't you already be used with the system?"

"We'll never get tired of this argument, Akashi-sama," said the last male, whose gray hair and blank gray blue eyes made him unnoticeable. "Not until you accept the fact that we should always be by your side."

"The school is safe," Akashi reasoned. "Since when did any attack happen?"

The green-eyed demon fixed his glasses again. "7:37am, enemy crows were spotted. I dealt with them. 7:59am, underground moles attack. Aomine finished them. 8:02am, attack in disguise of female students. Kise lured them out. 9:14am, ghosts. Mayuzumi forced them out. 10:01, attack at the canteen. Murasakibara nulled it. And..."

Suddenly, a black shield surrounded Akashi. Thin arrow-like projectiles hit the transparent black demon power uselessly, burning into nothing. Shadows shot out of Kuroko's feet and snaked up the walls, pushing through the edges of the ceiling and cutting it open. Bees started to pour out like a cloud.

"Now, 12:11pm, demon bees attack," the green-haired demon said, watching as the shadows closed in like a blacket around the cloud of insects. It formed a perfect sphere, dark and fluid like tar, and got smaller and smaller until it disappeared into nothing.

The green-haired demon continued to narrate, "Kuroko just killed the demon bees."

Kuroko raised a finger and the shield that enveloped Akashi disappeared. Akashi looked at him with a smile.

"You changed a lot in the past years, didn't you?" the master commented, much to the happiness of the light blue-haired familiar. "Tetsuya and Chihiro have similar powers, don't you?"

"We're demons that came from the same clan, Akashi-kun," Kuroko said. He smiled. "My abilities are taught to me in the demon world by someone. I just relearned to use them here in the human world."

"It seems that you value that someone a lot," Akashi said.

"He's my master."

"So is it Akashichi-sama, Kurokochi?" Kise suddenly asked.

Aomine hit Kise at the back of the head. "Idiot. Sei-sama didn't teach Tetsu. Though they learned shield together."

"Anyway, Akashi-sama," Midorima cut in. "I still think we all should be in the same class."

"Excuse me..."

Six demon familiars and their master looked towards the calling soft voice.

"I think you children should tone down your voices," an elder man said, still shaking from the shock of seeing pure black demon power being used freely in the summoner classroom. "Akashi-kun, I know it's lunch break but..."

"You've got guts calling Akachin-sama so casually, old man," Murasakibara said as a nearby desk was powdered from his punch. "I'll crush you."

"Atsushi," Akashi called in warning. "That's my homeroom teacher, Kiyoshi-sensei."

"Oh?" The expression on the face of the giant lightened, unlike that of the teacher and the remaining other students in the room, which faces remained showing fear. "But he doesn't look familiar, Akachin-sama."

"He's always here," Akashi said. "Right, Shintarou?"

"I don't remember that old man," Midorima said.

"I don't remember him either," Aomine said.

"Me too." Kise looked out the window, losing interest.

Akashi turned to Kuroko and Mayuzumi. But both shook their heads.

"But he's always here," Akashi repeated. "Everyday."

The fifteen-year-old summoner, Akashi Seijuro, could just sigh. He just felt like he was taking care of six children rather than having six familiars.


	13. Lesson 13

**Disclaimer:**_ born on the day of earthquakes_ does not own _The Basketball that Kuroko Plays_.

* * *

**Summoner 101: Lesson 13**

_Even though some demons have human forms, the only sustenance that they really need is demon power, which they can get through the demon gates of their masters. Still, they can eat and sleep like normal humans if they choose to._

* * *

_The shadows withdrew from the gnarled tree, leaving its surface full of scratches. The smaller demon sighed while the elder one beside him chuckled._

_"How should I do it, master?" the younger asked._

_The elder demon just smiled. He pat the head of the other, liking the familiar silkiness of the thin hair. "Patience. Know what you can do and you'll be able to do it. So take advantage of your strength."_

_The younger demon looked down. "I am not strong."_

_"I am not talking about physically strong," the elder demon continued. "There are strengths other than physical power."_

_"Strengths other than physical power...?"_

_The younger demon looked at his hands and then to his feet, where the shadows moved even though the source of the light was static. The younger demon smiled, looking up at his master._

_"I'll do my best, master!"_

_The elder demon pat his head again._

**...**

"Chihiro."

Mayuzumi jolted awake as he felt a hand on his head. He turned slightly to see that it was just Akashi standing just beside his seat.

"It's time to go," Akashi continued saying gently, not wanting to surprise his familiar who was right out of sleep. "It's rare to see you sleeping like this."

When Akashi chuckled, Mayuzumi turned to him questioningly.

"Tetsuya too." This time, Akashi ruffled Kuroko's hair while the familiar had his head down on his arms on the desk. "Is this some kind of day when demons sleep or something?"

"There is no such day, Akashi-sama," Midorima said.

"And as usual, Aominechi's sleeping during classes," Kise said as he pulled few of the dark blue hair of his companion.

A tan hand grabbed and pulled Kise's wrist. A leg swung and met Kise's unguarded stomach. The golden-haired familiar was flung at the other side of the room. Murasakibara clapped as he watched the show, his mouth still chewing on something.

"Stop, Daiki!" Akashi called as the tan familiar stood up groggily.

"Oh...?" Aomine turned at the one who called him. "Sei-sama? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in class?"

"Classes are over, Mine-chin. Akachin-sama's here to fetch us." Murasakibara answered as Akashi rushed towards his fallen familiar. The purple-haired demon turned to his master. "Atsushi's been good today, Akachin-sama."

"Aominechi's a mean one, though," Kise said as Akashi checked on him. He looked pretty tearful for a demon who doesn't even have a scratch even after sent headfirst towards the nearest wall.

"You're like children," commented a monotone voice. Kuroko sat on his chair as he watched the show beside Murasakibara.

"You're one to speak, Tetsu," Aomine said. "You're like a kid taking an afternoon nap."

"Isn't that _you_, too, Aomine?" Midorima asked.

Akashi helped Kise up. "Come on, guys. Time to go home."

"Yes, sir!"

The teacher watched the whole scene play out before his eyes.

_'Why are they like obedient little children to that child?'_ the teacher thought as he looked as the demons and their master go out of the door. _'... And very much demon to everyone else?'_

He shrugged, smiling broadly. But his steely eyes followed the back of a certain boy.

_'_That person_ i__s powerful, after all...'_

Akashi turned around.

"Akachin-sama, is there something wrong?" Murasakibara asked as the six of them immediately sensed Akashi's distress.

"The teacher..." Akashi said slowly, running his red eyes all around the room. "The teacher isn't here...?"

Midorima frowned. "No, he isn't. He left immediately after dismissing the class."

"Is that so?" Looking around the room for the last time, Akashi Seijuro, a fifteen-year-old summoner and master of six demons, turned around again. "Okay, let's go home."


	14. Lesson 14

**Disclaimer:** _born on the day of earthquakes_ does not own The Basketball that Kuroko Plays.

* * *

**Summoner 101: Lesson 14**

_The demon world is currently in its second era, the era of order. The first era, which was considered as the era of chaos, is said to be the time when the strongest demon killed almost all of the demons in the demon world due to madness._

* * *

_The drawings of circles floated in and out of the darkness. The moment he saw them, even for a very brief moment, he remembered them._

_But those were his dreams more than ten years ago. This time, it was different._

_Everything was dark and red. It was silent. Nothing moved, except for him._

_Five individuals stood before him. They were his companions, but now they turned their backs on him. Now, they are going to kill him._

_But he's will never let them do such thing. He told himself that he will kill them. But he couldn't._

_They pulled out his eyes. They stripped him of his power. They made him into nothing but bag of meat and bones._

_His student — his _former_ student — sealed him away._

_He fell into a deep slumber. After all, they couldn't kill him either. But he promised that he will return and exact his revenge._

_He'll kill them all._

**...**

"Kuroko!"

Kuroko blinked. "I'm awake, Midorima-kun."

"Really now?" The green-haired familiar pointed at the chin of the other. "What is that drool, then?"

"I..." Kuroko wiped his chin with the back of his hand. "I'm thinking of vanilla shake."

"Dreaming of, you mean."

Murasakibara yawned. "Just let it go, Midochin."

"Yeah," Aomine said. "Why are we up now, anyway? It's still dawn..."

"This is about the upcoming familiar competition during the school festival."

"Oh, that?" a voice from the back suddenly joined in. "Don't worry, Shintarou. I'll give each of you demon powers that are enough to last you a week."

"Akashi-sama?" Midorima called as Akashi raised a hand while smiling. "Why...?"

"I had Chihiro wake me up. It's unfair that I wasn't invited to this meeting," Akashi explained briefly. "Anyway, since I'll give each of you a lot of stored demon powers, you can use that in the demon matches as much as you want. I'll put a limiter though, so that you guys will hold back and won't use the demon powers on humans."

"Didn't that take a lot of toll on you, Akashi-kun?"

"I slept a lot this week, so it's fine, Tetsuya."

"But that's not really the problem, Akashi-sama," Midorima said. He held up a paper with a bar chart. "This is the time of our matches. Please do notice that there is a time when all of us are in a match and there'll be no one left to guard you."

"There's nothing to guard me from..." Akashi started saying.

Aomine put a hand on his chin. "That's is bad. Should one of us default the match at that time?"

"There's nothing to worry," Akashi said again.

"We can't be too light with our guard, Akachin-sama," Murasakibara said. "Akachin-sama is a very important person us all. We can't lose you."

"Come on, Atsushi, it's just the school festival. The school is safe."

"It _is_ the school festival," Midorima said. "Anyone can enter the school freely at that time."

Mayuzumi raised a hand. "Sorry, but I and Kuroko-kun can't default at that time. It's our match."

Kuroko looked at Mayuzumi. "All right. This is the reason you've come here, after all. We'll fight there, Mayuzumi-kun."

"Ah, it's my and Aominechi's match too!" Kise exclaimed. "I don't want to default either."

"Then, I'll do it," Murasakibara and Midorima said at the same time.

"Wait a minute, guys!" Akashi said. "I'm fine. You don't have to this."

"Anyway, you're going to watch my match, aren't you, Akashichi-sama?" Kise asked, almost childishly.

"Yeah," Aomine agreed. "Watch me defeat Kise, Sei-sama."

"No, Akashi-kun will be watching us," Kuroko said. "Our match is an important battle for the title of the demon king."

"You're not a demon king, Kurochin..."

"He'll be a former demon king, after all," Mayuzumi said. "I'll be taking the title for myself."

"Mayuchin... you too."

"Akashi-sama doesn't need to watch any of your matches."

"Shut up, Midorima," Aomine said.

Akashi Seijuro sighed. The familiars of this fifteen-year-old summoner sure are very childish. He has no idea why other people are scared of them.


	15. Lesson 15

**Disclaimer:** _born on the day of earthquakes_ does not own The Basketball That Kuroko Plays.

* * *

**Summoner 101: Lesson 15**

_The use of magic has different types. The dark power, aside from summoning, can be used for things like creation and manipulation. It can also be used to fuel special abilities in humans, which are seeing the future, or having heightened senses or superhuman strength, and many others._

* * *

It was the day of the school festival. It really didn't take too much time to build stores or to decorate the classroom and school grounds with the combined efforts of magic users and summoners with their familiars.

For that year, being members of the student council committee, Akashi Seijuro and his familiars headed the event. But that year was also the first time that the school festival opened for public. Usage of magic was not unknown to the common people, but Teiko Gakuen kept its events to itself for the past years to avoid magic misuse and accidents. It was only a suggestion of a teacher that the school be opened for public to give the students some interaction with the people outside the school, as well as for the people to be aware of the possibilities through the use of magic.

Many (most notable of which are some of Akashi's familiars) didn't agree. But other students pushed with the idea and made "Magic is safe for all" as a theme for the year's school festival.

The annual demon familiars duel was still the main attraction, anyway — even if it didn't really fit the theme. Only high school summoner-type students are allowed to join the competition, and with the prodigy Akashi Seijuro finally a first year high school student, everyone looked forward to the matches between top-level demons, six of which happens to be all of Akashi's familiars.

Truthfully, Akashi didn't want to join the competition. It was his familiars who joined themselves. Sighing like a patient parent would, he gave each familiar their equal share of a week's worth of demon power to use. That caused him to sleep in his classes and earn his turn of sighs from his teachers.

Now, he didn't know which match to watch. Kuroko vs Mayuzumi, Kise vs Aomine, Midorima vs a demon familiar from another class, and Murasakibara vs a demon familiar of his classmate all happened to be at the same time. Midorima decided not to appear in his match and tailed Akashi for almost the whole day.

Meanwhile, Kuroko and Mayuzumi entered one of the large rooms used for training rooms, but used as their battlefield for the match. In another room was Kise and Aomine. Only cameras served as eyes for the ones who want to watch the matches, which happened to be most of the school population and also some curious people from the outside. Private rooms for viewing were offered, but most could only afford special seats in the public ones.

Murasakibara also defaulted on his match and bought a lot of snacks to watch the two matches between his co-familiars. He managed to get his hands on a private viewing room that contained a monitor for each of the demon matches, expecting his Akachin-sama to watch with him. But the fifteen-year-old young master, Akashi Seijuro, was nowhere to be found.

* * *

Akashi turned to the corner, moving inside an empty classroom and closing the door behind him. He just hoped that he had lost Midorima, even though he knew that that was impossible because of all his familiars' ability to know where their master is. The green-haired familiar had been tailing him for the whole day, defaulting most of his matches especially if Akashi was left alone.

Akashi sighed. And then he looked around the room. A boy with ash-colored hair stood there, but Akashi wasn't really sure. The boy held some cards on one hand and in the process of turning over another card with the other.

"Thank you for coming to the divination club."

The boy who just spoke smiled at the red-haired.

"Er yes,..." Akashi said slowly. "If you don't mind me, I'll be leaving..."

But the boy was beside him in a moment, his hands gripping on Akashi's arm.

"If it isn't the famous Akashi Seijuro, the freshman student council president and the only summoner with multiple top-level familiars," he said. "My name is Haizaki Shougo. Please allow me to look into your destiny."

He turned to him, his eyes turning into transparent, orb-like ash-colored eyes. Akashi shivered at the sight, feeling the intense power that those eyes emit. He snapped out of his thoughts as the guy called Haizaki Shougo frowned.

"I see nothing..." he said slowly. "There are no strings of fate on you. Why is that? So... odd."

"What?" Akashi asked.

"Please mind the divination shop for now, Akashi-san," the boy said, urgency in his voice. He picked up a pair of running shoes from the corner near a huge fireplace with no ongoing fire. He put the shoes on in an instant. "It's impossible for any being, human or demon, to have no strings of fate attached to them, so my eyes must be deceiving me. I'll have them checked for a moment."

"Wait...!"

But Haizaki Shougo exited the room without another word, leaving Akashi in the dark room.

The red-haired boy moved towards the door and switched the lights on. The words of the boy reminded Akashi of an incident when he was younger. He had tried to do divination in one of his classes before. Sure, he could see these 'strings of fate' that Haizaki Shougo mentioned, but his instructors and classmates, even himself, couldn't see his.

His instructor said that he was an 'incomplete being'.

Akashi just sighed, settling down on a chair. Looking around the room, he found out that the boy and other members of the divination club placed thick curtains that was the main reason why the room was so dark.

He didn't know if he fell asleep, but the next moment when he opened his eyes, he saw that the door of the room sliding open and a middle-aged-looking male standing there.

"Oh, good afternoon," Akashi said politely. He immediately noticed the odd aura that surrounded the male but he chose to ignore it. The aura felt a little bit familiar to him, anyway. "Welcome to the divination club. Sorry, I'm not a club member, but if we wait for a little while..."

"So you really can see me," the male said, entering the room. He closed the door behind him. The afternoon sunlight shone on him and his dark hair and eyes stood out starkly against his pale skin. "I suppose you can see the others as well, but no matter. The five of us are all the same."

Akashi knew then why aura of the other male in the room felt familiar: it was the aura of a demon. He had been around his demon familiars since he could remember that he could barely distinguish which aura is of a demon or a human, unlike other summoners.

"Who are you?" he asked, frowning slightly with suspicion. "Who is your master?"

"Sorry for my late introduction. I suppose you couldn't remember any of us five. And the two of us really didn't have a close relationship either."

Smiling, the demon bowed.

"My name is Hanamiya Makoto, one of the five Demon Elders. It's a pleasure to meet you, Demon King Akashi Seijuro."

* * *

**A/N:**

Now, why would Akashi be the Demon King when it's forever hinted that Kuroko's the King and Mayuzumi's his challenger?! And is Haizaki Shougo creepy or what?!

Anyway, if you're wondering why Haizaki's practicing divination in this fic, refer to chapter 211 (211th quarter) of the manga. He somehow knew or just hinted that the ones staying in the Teiko basketball team will suffer. He hasn't clearly predicted it though. But to me, he'll be a creepy divination magician in the fic. Sorry to his fans if I somehow ruined his fierce image. XP

Thanks for the reviews, faves, follows! Thanks for reading!


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